Tales of the Tapperina
by Chocolate X My Mouth
Summary: Princess Harumi has a secret passion - tap dancing. She's also good at ballet, and likes to combine the two to form "the Tapperina". But she's tired of being held in the palace, incapable of showing her tap/ballet skills. Now that the ninja have arrived, she may just have a shot at getting to use her talents outside of her makeshift studio... these are the tales of the Tapperina.
1. The Tapperina

**So yeah... Tapperinas are a thing now. Credit to MorroAndJaylynn as well XD  
Definition - a tap dancer who also doubles as a ballerina. **

**And Harumi isn't evil for this. Just a princess who likes tap and ballet XD hope you enjoy!**

Harumi hated life as a princess. Appearing royal all the time was not something she really enjoyed doing 24/7. She hated the spotlight... unless it was on her in a different light, that is...

See, the princess of Ninjago had a secret talent that no one knew about.

She could tap dance.

And she wasn't half bad at it either! She had been doing it about a year after she had gotten to the palace, so since she had arrived when she was 9, and she was 20 now, she had been tap dancing for 11 years.

It was her favorite thing to do when she was stressed...

And now, that was especially the case.

So, she was headed down several flights of stairs to her mini studio. It wasn't anything special, but she felt at home there. It was about the size of an average bedroom, and it also had a big mirror in the center. Soundproofing pads were literally everywhere as to silence her taps from getting out, and she of course had her tap shoes and dance bag.

"Okay... let's put on a show Rumi," she said to herself. "Sheesh, I really need to stop talking to myself."

She also tapped whenever she was bored. Which was a lot in the Ninjago Palace...

So, she sat down delicately, and pulled out her tap shoes from her bag. Trading them from the dress-appropriate shoes felt like such a relief, despite the fact that both were a pair of heels. But her tap shoes felt so much better on her feet, and she loved the click-clacking sounds they made. She then took off her robes, leaving a pair of black shorts and a green t-shirt.

"Okay then... Warm up," she muttered, rolling her ankles for a few minutes. Then, she shuffled back and forth for a bit more.

"Now let's have some fun!" she giggled, humming a piano riff. She then took off like the wind, tapping to her heart's content and desire.

 _Tappity tap tap... Click clack tap... Shuffle toe tap tap..._

Tap dancing was probably her favorite thing to do. It helped her stop crying whenever she was sad, it helped her to see the best in a lot of things, and it helped lift her mood. Like, a lot. So she continued to dance on.

 _Tappy tappity tap... Shuffle shuffle tap click... Tappity tap tap..._

It was odd how the sounds of metal striking the floor were so peaceful to her... but she didn't mind. She loved it, so she would keep doing it.

"Princess Harumi?"

She squealed and leaped around, but to her relief, it was only Lloyd standing there.

"Ar-Are you t-tap dancing?" he asked.

Harumi sighed. "Guess the cat's out of the bag. But yes, I am."

"W-Wow... that's impressive," Lloyd said. "You don't really see many tap dancers anymore."

"Real shame, isn't it?" Harumi asked. "Hey... how about you watch me dance?"

"Oh-uh, um... s-sure! I-I'm-I mean, only if-if you'd be okay... with that," he said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Its just harmless dancing! I won't bite... or kick your shin, now that I think about it," Harumi muttered.

"Huh?" Lloyd asked.

"Nothing!" Harumi said. "Just take a seat. Let me show you some stuff."

Lloyd took a seat, and Harumi began to show him some stuff.

"So this is a buffalo," she said, "you just jump on your foot, take the opposite one and shuffle, then jump on it and cross the first leg over the other. Here's a few."

Harumi did a few buffaloes, shocking Lloyd with her skill. Despite it being a very simple dance step, Lloyd had no clue, and thought it was as tough as tap got.

"W-Wow... you're amazing!" he said.

"Why thank you," Harumi giggled, doing a graceful bow. "Hey, hand my my bag and I'll show you something cool!"

"Okay..." Lloyd said, handing her bag to her.

Harumi dug around for a second, and pulled out a pointe shoe. She took off one of her tap shoes, and tossed it to Lloyd, who barely caught it.

"This is what I like to call 'The Tapperina'," smiled Harumi. "Its a tap dancer who also doubles as a ballerina!"

"C-cool!" Lloyd said. "Uh...what do I do with the shoe?"

"Keep it safe, I don't know when I can get another," she said. "Now watch this."

She went up onto the very tip of her tap shoe, then the pointe of her ballet slipper.

"W-Wow!" he marveled.

"Now watch this," giggled Harumi. She then scraped out her tap shoe, making a very interesting sound as she danced across the floor, spinning and tapping around.

"You go princess!" Lloyd said.

"Uh huh, oh yeah, TAP BREAK!" Harumi said, breaking out into a series of single-footed tap movements. Lloyd honestly felt like he was in heaven at that moment.

However...

Harumi's ankle had to give way at that exact moment. She shrieked as she fell forward, but as she prepared herself for impact with the hardwood floor...

Harumi then found herself caught in Lloyd's arms, and she was blushing madly.

"Wh-whoa," she muttered. "Th-thank you Lloyd."

"No problem, princess," he said. "You uh... you good?"

"I'm still in a dancing mood, so I guess so," Harumi said. "Uh... you wanna stick around?"

"S-Sure! I mean, only if you're okay with it," he muttered, rubbing the back of his head.

Harumi winked at him. "Let me show you a few more tap moves. I guarantee you'll love it!"

Lloyd chuckled...

He had a good feeling about his friendship with the princess.

* * *

It had been another three hours of straight dancing and awe. Harumi had put her tap shoe back on, claiming they should "stay separated" from the ballet slippers for the day.

Finally, she crashed down on the floor after doing her favorite tap step, the scissor step, about five times. Or fifty. Neither were counting.

"That was quite the performance, princess," smiled Lloyd.

"Thanks... its Rumi," Harumi chuckled. "Hey, thanks for sticking with me. I'm really happy you enjoyed my tapping."

"Anytime," said Lloyd. "It was beautiful!"

Harumi giggled. She then pressed a kiss to his cheek.

"So are you," she whispered. "Well, gotta head back up. Wanna meet here tomorrow?"

"Uh... uh...y-y-yeah."

"Great!" Harumi said, kicking off her tap shoes and sticking her heels back on. "Our first date shall be a sweet one."

And with that, Harumi exited the room.

Lloyd was left there for about ten more minutes before Zane came and got him for a mission.

* * *

 **And that's that! For now... ;)**

 **Next chapter, Rumi will take her tap skills one step further! :D See you guys then! :D**


	2. Who's Got The Action?

**Now, Rumi's doing a stage gig. because all tapperinas need a stage to tap on! (this is mainly a tap dance chapter. There's ballet at the end tho) XD**

Harumi now had a better chance to feel like an actual dancer.

Her parents were away for a week, so she took the opportunity to go out to the dance store as her civilian persona and buy that tap board she had been itching to get. She then took it back to her bedroom, and began to assemble it.

"You are gonna get scratched up real bad pal," she cringed, looking at the wood. "...Oh well. That is what you were made for."

She then finished the assembly process, and eagerly threw her shoes off and pulled out her tap shoes.

"Rumi?"

"Oh, hey Lloyd," Harumi said. "Check out my new tap board!"

"Nice..." Lloyd said. Since he wasn't a tap dancer like Rumi, he didn't understand how valuable this truly was to her. It was like she had received a brand new toy that she had been eyeing for weeks.

In this case, it was almost exactly like that...

"I'm gonna take it for a spin," she said, "you wanna record it?"

"Uh... okay... any reason why?" he asked.

"I wanna be able to save my routines so I can go back and practice one if I really like it," she explained. "You do have a phone, right?"

"Yep, the new eBorg is gonna make Cyrus a billionaire soon," he chuckled.

"Damn right," Harumi giggled. "Okay... ready?"

"Ready," he said.

Harumi then took off, beginning a pretty complex tap routine. She had been practicing this one, and it had a lot of her favorite steps in it.

She loved the sounds of the taps hitting the hardwood. It was like her own little version of ocean sounds to calm her at night - tap dance reduced any stress she possibly had from the day before, and she'd have it no other way. She'd wear these shoes everywhere if she could, but sadly, she couldn't. Unless she wanted to damage them, which she obviously didn't.

"And... et voila!" she said, striking a pose.

"Great job!" Lloyd said. "That was... four minutes!"

"Yes!" Harumi said. "I was aiming for at least three and a half. Unfortunately, if I don't take a break, my ankles will hold me quite guilty."

Lloyd chuckled. "Hey... can I ask you a question?"

"Mhmm!" she responded, sitting on her bed and removing her tap shoes. "What would you like to know?"

"Do you... ever wish you could go public? Like, do actual tap and ballet shows?" he asked.

Harumi sighed.

He already knew her talent; knowing a bit more couldn't hurt.

"I...may have a show tonight," she blushed. "Down at the new Brown Ninja Tavern."

"Really?" Lloyd gasped. "Wow! That's so cool!"

"Thanks," she smiled. "Hey... would you like to attend?"

"Sure!" he said. "I'm assuming you'd want me to come alone."

"Hmm... y'know what, nah," she smiled. "Bring the other ninja if they want to come! My parents are gonna be out for a bit longer than expected; we should have no trouble getting in and out of here."

"Awesome!" he said. "But wait... won't they know you're the Princess?"

"I have my ways," she winked. "Just don't wear your ninja gi. People will definitely notice that."

"Gotcha," Lloyd said, giving a thumbs up, before heading out.

Harumi giggled, and then put her tap shoes back on. She had some practicing to do.

* * *

The six ninja arrived at the tavern late in the evening; it seemed to them like it was more of a juice bar than anything. Also, everyone there seemed to be nice and friendly.

"Why are we here again?" Kai asked.

"Yeah... not that I don't love a good juice bar," Jay said, "but this is out of the blue."

"Just trust me guys," said Lloyd. "This'll be worth it."

"Okay then..." Nya said.

"GUYS!" the bartender yelled.

"Oh... hey Dareth," Cole said.

"I wasn't expecting you all tonight!" he chuckled. "Don't worry about the juice, its all on me!"

"I'll just... sit over there," Zane said, walking away. "I'm not thirsty."

"Suit yourself," Dareth chuckled, grabbing several glasses and the juice flavors the ninja requested.

"Why are we here again?" Nya asked.

"Just wait... please, I promise it'll be worth it," Lloyd said.

"Whatever you say dude," Jay said, "I'm just enjoying this lemonade! Its delicious as heck!"

"Good Jay," Cole said. Jay eyeballed him.

A few minutes later, however, the lights began to dim, and the music simmered down.

"Is there a show tonight?" asked Kai.

"I dunno," Nya said.

Suddenly, Dareth yelled into a microphone on the bar. "Please welcome Rumi Jade, the tap dance princess!"

Everyone applauded, and Harumi walked out on stage. She had a green knee length dress on, her usual tap shoes, and her hair was in a ponytail. "So, tonight, I have a special friend here... and this tap dance I'm gonna do is dedicated to him."

She then took off tapping, and didn't hesitated to jump off stage within a minute of the dance. She shuffled, flapped, and tapped her way around the bar. She was smiling all the way through, and even found an empty table to jump on and start her breaks.

Dareth, meanwhile, had pulled out an electronic keyboard, and was jamming his heart out. He had also applied a pair of shades, and was now his jazzy alter ego - "Sweet Ninja Brown". The name was still a work in progress.

Harumi then twirled off the table like a ballerina, and began to leap gracefully around the bar. Dareth was taking a more classical approach with his music, and the ninja... they were all astonished.

Finally, Harumi jumped back onto the stage, and had a flurry of steps done within seconds.

"Ta-Da!" she said, tapping her toes as adorably as she could. The entire group of ninja, Dareth, and all the bar guests were standing up and clapping for her.

"Remember folks, pictures and autographs start at 10!" Dareth called out.

Meanwhile, Harumi had skipped off stage and bounced in front of Lloyd. "So... what did ya think?"

"That... that was something else," he chuckled. "It was great though!"

The rest of the ninja, however, were shocked.

"I need to learn how to tap dance, like, right now," Nya said.

"You couldn't make me do that with a sword to my neck," Kai said. "That was amazing but so complex!"

"How'd she remember all of that?" Jay muttered, scratching his head.

"I really wish I had ordered a fruit punch," Cole muttered.

"See you all back at the palace!" Harumi said. "And Lloyd... thank you. For all the small things you do, this night and dance were only possible because of you... meet me in the dance room tomorrow. I want to show you something."

"Okay!" Lloyd said.

Harumi winked, then walked out into the night and back to the palace.

Suddenly, Zane walked back in. "I was off in the corner. What did I miss?"

 **Oh Zane... you missed A LOT. XD**

 **Next chapter will have more ballet in it lol. XD See you guys soon! :D**


	3. Prequel

**This is a chapter that details Harumi's life before the ninja joined, aka before the tapperina existed. Its also a mini one shot I had that inspired this whole thing XD**

 **Hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

Harumi tap danced angelically across her studio floors...

She glided with every move she made, whether it be a toe stand or the clicking of her heels...

There was no doubt about it - she loved this art style.

She giggled as the steps seemingly flowed into her head like a melody. In a way, it was a melody; tap dancing was just making music with her feet. It was like she was a human drummer!

Harumi never had drummed a day in her life... but if tap dancing counted, she had been drumming for years now.

She loved it so much.

Whenever she could tap, she took the chance; she had to learn via the internet and online lessons, since it wasn't easy for her to go out and actually enter a class without being recognized, but there were no regrets that she had.

She loved it and would try her hardest to make it her secondary career; there was no degrees available for tap, sadly ( _she knew she would ace that_ ), but it would be her passion.

Then, she realized her music had stopped.

"Bummer," the girl muttered. "Time to improvise!"

She then did a freestyle routine, consisting of three things - flailing her arms around, giggling uncontrollably, and making taps as fast as she could.

There was really no coordination to what she was doing, she was just having fun.

It was like she was a little girl all over again...

Then, she slowed down... and stretched her arms out like a ballerina.

A tapperina-... those didn't exist.

Yet.

"Hmm..." she muttered.

She then put on a squeaky voice. "Mommy, when I grow up, I want to be a tapperina!"

Then, she walked a few feet away, and lowered her voice a bit. "What's that Harumi?"

"A tap dancer mixed with a ballerina!" she giggled, doing several twirls and ending with a shuffle step.

She then hummed happily...

It was saddening to her she couldn't dance all day. If there was a competition for that she would enter in a heartbeat; and would probably win too!

So, she packed up her dance equipment, put her princess robes over her leotard, put her tap shoes back into her purse, and walked out of the dance room.

All the scratches on the floor made her so happy to know that she may be a princess... she may be royalty... but most of all...

Harumi was a tap dancer.

* * *

However, since that day, she had thought about the term "tapperina"... a lot.

So that inspired her to dig up some of her old ballet equipment in her closet, and she found her pointe shoes.

"Please tell me these still fit," she muttered.

To her surprise, despite the fact they were five years old, she still slid into them like they were fresh out of the box.

"Yes!" she quietly exclaimed.

She then grabbed her tap shoes, sprinted downstairs, and put on one of each.

"Now I get to be a real tapperina!" she smiled gladly.

She then proceeded to get on the pointe of her ballet shoe and scuffle out her tap shoe as fast as she could.

She laughed loudly, and was thankful she had a soundproof room, otherwise she would've been heard all across Ninjago.

But she would've never cared.

Because the world didn't know what this little princess could do with just a pair of tap shoes and ballet shoes...

But they were about to learn.

* * *

 **A little shorter XD sorry! I just really wanted to update lol, hope you all enjoyed anyway :D**


End file.
